Test Aids Treatment of Smoke Inhalation

Where there’s smoke there’s often cyanide--but it kills so quickly and the tests take so long that doctors rarely check for it. Now scientists have developed a quick new test for cyanide exposure that could save some people who now die of smoke inhalation. The test uses equipment already found in most hospitals and yields results in 40 minutes, said Dr. Avery Tung, the University of Chicago anesthesiologist who developed it. Doctors can then administer cyanide antidotes that are either inhaled or injected. Current tests for cyanide are all but useless.